From Clockwork To Hero
by Shannyofhyrule
Summary: This story is set centuries after Wind Waker. Mysterious kidnappings are happening all over Hyrule. When the kidnappers take Link's mother, he risks everything to go and find her. Will he succeed or will he fail? There will be OCs.
1. Prologue

**This is my first story ,read, comment and tell me what you think. Be honest I really want to make this story interesting so… enjoy!**

**Story edited by Colleen-TJ . One more thing—I DO NOT OWN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA. All rights to Nintendo. This is for fun.**

**PROLOGUE**

A long time ago, when the world as we know it was covered in vast oceans and Hyrule was just a legend, the world was at peace. People lived day by day without fear.

But peace always has its end.

One day, an ancient evil arose from its slumber. An evil that was said to have been sealed away a long time ago. But this evil had escaped from his prison and sought revenge on the world that had shunned it. This ancient evil's name was Ganondorf, and his goal was to make himself king and shroud the world in eternal darkness.

But one day, a boy rose up out of the blue to take on Ganondorf and bring light to the world again. He faced many trials and traveled to many foreign lands. He possessed an ancient power bestowed upon him by the gods of old. At his side was the legendary sword of evil's bane—the Master Sword. With the help of the Princess of Destiny, he traveled to the ancient, sleeping kingdom. He fought Ganondorf on his own turf to prevent him from abusing the power that the gods bestowed upon man. He used the master sword to end Ganondorf's life.

With one wish left to the boy and the princess, they used the power to seal off the kingdom of Hyrule. This way, no one could ever pervade the kingdom again. From that day forward, and over the course of many centuries, islands became lands and lands became continents.

Thus New Hyrule was born. The world knew peace once more thanks to the deeds of the hero's courageous heart.

But as long as there is good, evil will never stop in its quest to destroy it…


	2. All in a Days Work

**Hey everyone! This is the first chapter in ****_Clockwork_****. I'm working on making a picture to go along with this story, too. Story written by Shannyofhyrule and edited by Colleen-TJ.**

* * *

"_Oh hero... how long must I wait? I look forward to having our 'special moment' together. When do we meet? ...Oh, what possibilities I have in store for you. It's to die for. _

**All in a Day's Work**

_Clink, clink, clink._

Link finished tightening a gear in a pocket watch he was fixing.

_Ring, ring, ring._

The bell to his shop went off. A middle-aged man, nicely dressed, slightly chubby, and with balding brown hair entered. Link looked up and smiled.

"Hello, Mr. Scholls," he greeted. "Nice to see you. What can I do for you today?"

"Oh, I'm here to pick up my pocket watch."

Link had just finished the watch he'd been working on before Mr. Scholls walked in.

"Here it is." He handed Mr. Scholls the watch. "Good as new," he added, taking pride in his work. It was gold, but the design on the outside was that of the royal

Hylian emblem, etched in with silver. On the inside, the watch held a picture of the man's late wife. Words were engraved under the picture that read, "_I will always _

_love you." _Mr. Scholl's face lit up like a child who was told he could eat all the candy he wanted for dinner.

"It looks as good as new!" Mr. Scholls exclaimed. He held up the little clock to his ear and heard a soft ticking noise. "It even sounds better, too!"

"Just trying to make the customer happy," Link replied.

"You don't know how much the means to me." Mr. Scholls continued to look at the picture of his late wife. "How much do I owe you?" asked Mr. Scholls, continuing to

gaze at the picture.

"Oh... forty rupees."

"Okay." Then Mr. Scholls pulled a medium sized brown wallet from his pocket and retrieved an orange rupee. "Here you go, this should cover it." He handed the rupee

to Link. Link looked at the rupee and his eyes grew wide.

"I... this is too much. I can't take this." He was ready to hand Mr. Scholls the money back and suddenly Mr. Scholls said, "Keep it."

"What?" He thought he'd heard it wrong.

"I said keep it," Mr. Scholls said, looking directly into Link's eyes.

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"You're not making any sense." Link was confused.

"I always see you working and-"

_I know where this is going_, Link thought.

"-when I was your age, I was out chasing the ladies!" Mr. Scholls chuckled to himself. Link wanted to disappear.

_I really don't want to hear this lecture again... always about meeting some good girl, settling down and having children... BLAH! I'll have children when I'm ready! _

Link thought angrily. Mr. Scholls could see that Link was ignoring him.

"You love somebody already, don't you?" He knew that would get Link's attention.

"Ye- no. What I mean is... I do, uh..." Link's face was beginning to turn red.

"I'm just messing with you, lad! Can't you humor me just for a moment?"

"Yeah... okay, sure." Link let out a nervous chuckle.

_I do love someone, but I can't tell her. At least not now_, Link thought.

"Link... one day, you're going to find that you can't stay in your bubble forever. Sooner or later it's going to pop and you're going to have to face your life straight on.

So go, Link... what's stopping you? _You need to step out and face your destiny_," Mr. Scholls said, a tone of sincerity in his voice as he tried to sound encouraging.

"What destiny? Maybe it's my destiny to stay and tend to this shop, _not _to go out on adventures. I'll leave _that _for fairytales," Link said bitterly. "One day, you'll see

what I mean."

A silence followed that was so thick you could cut through it. Then, Mr. Scholls pulled out his watch and looked at the time.

"Oh, my!" he reckoned. "I'm going to be late; I have a council meeting with the king. I must go!"

"What's the topic for today?" Link asked out of curiosity, just as Mr. Scholls had one foot out the door.

"It's about the kidnappings that have been happening all over Hyrule and surrounding areas- ah- sorry, Link, I would like to stay and chat, but I really must be going,

now!" Mr. Schools gently closed the door behind him, and he was gone. Link looked at his watch and let out a relieved sigh.

"Finally, it's 6 o' clock. I can close up shop, now."

As Link opened the door to where his living quarters were, he found to no surprise that his mother was telling a story to a small group of children. He quietly stood in

the back of the room, listening to the story as his mother told it. It was the story of the young hero from long ago and his battle with Ganondorf. She looked up and

waved. Some of the children saw this and looked behind them to where Link was standing.

"Hi, Mr. Link," one of the children said.

"Hi, everyone," Link answered with a smile. "Hello, Mother. It's 6 o' clock..."

She watched him with a confused expression on her face. Then, she looked at her watch. "Well, children, it looks like my son is righ-"

"AWWWWWW," they moaned in protest.

"But, Ms. Clara, can't we stay longer?" a girl whined.

"Yeah, you were getting to the best part!" said a boy with glasses.

"I wanna hear more about how the brave hero fought Ganon!" cried a boy with crazy blond hair, followed by imaginary sword moves.

"I'm sorry, but it looks like Mr. Link is right. It's time for you to go home. I don't want your families to be worried about where you are."

"Okay," the children replied monotonously as the got up to head out the door.

"Wait-" Clara said suddenly. Some of the children turned around.

"Yes?"

"Before you go..." Ms. Clara had a small blue bag and was pulling something out of it. "How... about... some... CANDY!"

"YAY!" the children squealed in excitement. "Bye Ms. Clara and Mr. Link!" said the children.

"Goodbye! Come again soon!" Clara closed the door behind them. "Children can be so sweet," she said, smiling. "I remember when you were like that," she added,

now looking at her son. "I miss that. But now my baby is all grown up." She smiled at him. Link smiled back.

"You never can cease to tell stories, can you?"

She giggled. "Okay, you got me! You know my weakness." Link loved his mother very much, and so did the children. She was a middle-aged woman with dark blond

hair, Link's same blue eyes, who loved life, and who always had a smile on her face. Even when Link was young and his father had left them homeless, she had

smiled and said to him, "_When one door closes... another one opens. Link, we are going to find that door and we _will _be better off than we were before." _From that

point forward, he watched her sweat and work hard to get to the point where they were now. So he had made a vow to be there for her to protect her however he

could. He would do _better than his father_. Link walked over to his mother and crossed his arms.

"Mother... why do you like telling stories so much? We have a job to do and-"

"Link," she said softly. She looked him in the eye before she spoke. "You work too much. Can't you learn how to rest a little and just breathe? There is more to life

than our little clockwork shop, you know."

_What?! How can you say that, after all the hard work I've seen you do?! _he thought. "How can you say that? If I don't work then who will take care of you and-"

She cut him off. "I'll manage. If I did it before then I can do it again. Besides... I'm stronger than you think." Link was silent for a moment and turned away.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be." Clara walked over to the door to look through the peephole. She smiled and opened it.

"Hi, Alania! How are you?"

_What? Alania is here! _Link thought.

"Hi, Ms. Clara!" She gave Clara a hug and approached Link. "Hi, Link. How have you been doing today?"

"Um... uh..."

Alania was Link's childhood friend and his secret crush. Around the same time when his father had walked out on them, Alania's parents had helped them to get on

their feet again. Alania's mother was his mother's childhood friend, too. But her mother had died around that time, so Link and Alania became friends very quickly.

Link supposed that it was because they both knew what it was like to lose someone that they loved.

"What?" she teased. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Alania... hi," Link stuttered. Alania had dark brown skin, medium black hair with blue highlights in the front, and ruby eyes.

"Come sit down, Alania. Take a load off! I know you're tired after the long day at the welding shop."

"Yeah, I'm beat." Clara guided Alania to the dining table. She plopped down and closed her eyes. "I'm so tired..."

"I'll start some tea." As Clara was headed towards the kitchen, Link just stood there. Alania elbowed him in the side and winked on her way past him. Link blushed.

Clara knew that he liked Alania, but he was afraid to tell the girl herself. Link joined Alania at the table.

"Man, Link, working at the shop is getting hectic... we have so many orders. It's not fun." Now she was laying her head down on the table. She let out a long sigh.

"What kind of orders?" Link asked out of curiosity.

"You know... iron-fused bars. I blame the kidnappings."

_There's that word again_, Link thought. "Can you tell me more about the kidnappings?"

Alania's head popped up. "You mean you haven't heard about them? It's been happening for weeks, now." She searched his face for any hint of dishonesty, but found

nothing. "You must live under a rock," she concluded, placing her head down on the table again. He let that little comment slide.

"Can you tell me more? I need to know. Please, Alania." She picked her head up, looked into his vibrant blue eyes, and sighed.

"Okay. I'll tell you." Link grabbed a chair and sat right next to her. "It's been happening for three months, now," she explained. "First it was only happening in the

countryside... you know, a few people here and there. But then whoever was behind it got pretty bold, and started taking people from small towns ranging from five

to ten people at once. People are scared that the kidnappers are going to come to Castle Town and make their rounds here."

"Hello! You two are catching up, I see," Clara said in a singsong voice, coming out of the kitchen holding a tray with tea and cookies. "Are we are... today's is

chocolate tea!" Clara poured Alania's cup first and added some dark liquid to it.

"What's that?"

"Oh, it's espresso, you really need it. It looks like you're about to fall over!"

Alania took the cup and drank some tea without hesitation, expecting it to be bitter. "_Mmm... _this tastes amazing!" Alania cried happily, sipping some of the tea.

"And for you, my darling baby boy..." while she was pouring Link's cup, he could hear Alania softly chuckling.

"Thanks,Mother..." mumbled Link, trailing off, sipping his tea as he shot invisible lasers at Alania.

"Here. You two have some cookies. They are white chocolate chip with lime! I heard they are the princess' favorite type of cookie. Did you know that Princess Zelda's

birthday is tomorrow? They are throwing a big celebration in honor of her twenty third birthday."

"Yeah, that's right. Sounds like fun," Alania chimed in, far more alert that she had been only a few minutes ago.

"What about the kidnappings? I thought everyone was scared of that," Link said before taking another sip of tea.

"Yes, but the kind is going to have the guards at all of Castle Town's entrances, so whoever is doing the kidnappings probably wouldn't think twice about showing up

here tomorrow night," Clara stated. "But speaking of tomorrow night... you two should go together! There will be many fun activities. The theme is a masquerade

party!" Clara looked at Link and winked. Link blushed.

"But anyway, back to what _we _were talking about-"

"Party pooper," Alania blurted out.

"Whatever," Link replied. "Do the victims have any similar traits or anything?"

Alania set down her teacup. "No, just random people of all ages. But, getting to the point-" Alania took another sip of tea before she spoke- "I think we'll be alright,

just like Ms. Clara said. We have Hyrule's best knights and guards protecting us. Besides," she added as an afterthought, "who would be so brainless as to kidnap

anyone while surrounded by _so many witnesses?" _


	3. Celebration part 1

**Happy New year, everyone! It's also the Chinese new year, so try new things, discover who are, and live life to its fullest.**  
**Story written by shannyofhyrule. Edited by Colleen-Tj**

**3/6/13 Sorry for the last two versions of this chapter,hopefully everything is fixed now.**

_At the Clockwork Shop_

Link was quietly sitting at his work desk, brow fixed with concentration, his magnifying glass turned on to the highest setting. He was trying to unstick a stubborn gear.  
"Goddess... why can't you become unstuck?" he asked the gear, still trying to get the glue out of the toy. Some woman had dropped off a little toy robot, and it appeared that her children had had too much fun with the glue. The woman had begged and pleaded for him to fix it, so he finally said yes because she looked so desperate. Link stopped, took off his glasses, and groaned.  
"Urggh," the sound escaped through his lips. Not only was he left to fix a stupid toy, but he was also left with a headache. "I'm going to lose my mind trying to fix this thing."  
He leaned forward onto his elbow lazily, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose to ease the oncoming headache. As he was busy consoling himself, his long Hylian ears pricked up. Laughter. And more specifically, a woman's laughter.  
Link kept his eyes closed and thought for a minute._ I know I'm not crazy. At least... not yet,_ he reasoned. _No one came into the shop, I mean... the bell didn't even ring! Or... did it?_  
He heard the laughter again. When he looked up, he nearly fell off of his stool. He was wrong; someone was in the shop with him. The laugh did belong to a woman, and a very beautiful woman at that.  
She had long brunette hair, a simple blue dress with a brown cloak and big, brown, almond shaped eyes that hinted at a mysterious undertone. They just stared at each other for a few moments. The woman displayed a shy smile and Link just gaped back at her, the shock prominent on his features.  
_Man, my mother and Mr. Scholls were right. I do work too much._  
The staring didn't cease for another few minutes, until finally Link spoke up.  
"Ah, hello," Link greeted, his voice cracking like a pubescent teenage boy. She smiled and Link cleared his throat.  
"Hi," she replied.  
"Um... can I help you with anything?" Link asked, adjusting his vest while calming down into a more professional manner.  
"Yes, you can," she answered softly. "I'm here to visit with my friends because of the celebration tonight, but as you can see, I've gotten myself lost." She admitted this sadly.  
"I take it you don't come here often," Link mused, trying to help her.  
"No, this is my first time being here. I'm not from Hyrule. I usually just stay home this time of year."  
"Where are you from?"  
"Oh, do you know where the ocean province is?"  
"Yes."  
"Well, I'm from a little bit east of there; it's a small, remote village. It's kind of in Hyrule and kind of... well, not," she concluded shyly.  
"Well, anyway, don't worry about it- the streets are always crowded, especially today. What's the name of the place you're looking for, Miss..." Link was making hand gestures, hinting that he required the girl's name.  
"Oh, my name is Drosida." She was smiling now. Drosida. That's an interesting name, Link thought.  
"Well, Miss Drosida, here is a map of Castle Town; this should be able to help you."  
"Okay."  
Link spread the map on the table so that Drosida could see. "Right now, we are in the northern part of Castle Town," he began to explain. "To get to the Steamy Tavern, you take a left at the..." as Link was explaining, he could see Drosida looking at him out of his peripheral vision. "Is there a problem, Miss Drosida?"  
"Oh, no, sorry- I'm paying attention," Drosida forced a smile but turned her eyes away from his, apparently disappointed.  
Link continued speaking. "So, you take a left at this bar/restaurant, walk to the end of the block, and you should end up at the Steamy Tavern," he finished, handing the paper to Drosida.  
"Thank you," she replied, eyes still turned away from Link.  
_She must be shy; I didn't mean to frighten her._  
When she looked back at Link, he smiled at her to let her know that he was friendly. She smiled back and began to speak.  
"Mr... Um..." she was doing the same hand gesture as Link had done earlier.  
"Oh- uh- sorry- it's Link."  
"Link," she continued. Then, she paused. "What an uncommon name."  
"I know," Link replied. "When I was born, my mother wanted something original, so she came up with 'Link.'"  
"Are you going to the festival tonight?" she suddenly asked.  
"Maybe... why do you ask?" Link was curious to know why a complete stranger would ask that. _She must like me,_ he thought.  
"I know you don't know me. It's just... I don't know, I just haven't met many people, and it would be nice to see a face I recognize. Plus, I heard that this year's celebration is going to be something to _die_for," Drosida exclaimed excitedly. "It would be nice to share the moment with a couple of new friends." She looked at him expectantly for a second, and then her face turned beet red. "I'm sorry, I was being too forward, and- well-" Drosida turned her eyes away again.  
Link smiled at this; he could tell that she was nervous. "Drosida... I might go tonight, and if I see you there, we can hang out for a bit. You could meet my friends, too." Drosida smiled.  
"That would be nice. Thank you, Mr. Link," she replied elatedly. Then she looked at the clock. It read 1:30.  
"Thank you again, Mr. Link, for the directions. I have to go now, or else my friends might think I've bailed on them."  
"You're welcome. Come by the shop sometime if you need any help. Oh, and we sell clocks, too."  
Drosida smiled and Link smiled back. Then, Drosida left, and all was quiet again. Link sighed, looked at his pocket watch, and then sighed yet again. He glanced at the toy again.  
"I should close up. No one else is coming," Link said to himself. He walked to close the door and flipped the Open sign to say Closed. He then went into the kitchen cabinet to find some medicine to relieve him of his headache.

…

"Today is going to be a great day!" Drosida exclaimed. She walked about for awhile, taking in the sights and sounds of Castle Town. "Wow, so many people..." she walked until she was alone. Then, she stopped and sighed. "You know, you could come out of the shadows every now and again." She crossed her arms over her chest. A black shadow was following her. All of a sudden, the shadow materialized.  
"Hello, Drixel." Drosida turned to face the shadow man. He was tall- at least 6.5, and handsome.  
"Drosida, you long are you going to keep this up?" Drixel asked, his voice raspy and annoyed. Drosida smirked.  
"Until tonight," she answered. "Besides, I need to have some fun every now and again. All work and no play can really make a person stiff."  
Drixel was quiet; he thought about talking to Drosida about tonight, but then decided against it. She was his superior, and he didn't dare cross her.  
"You know what, Drixel? You look like you need a drink."  
"What?" Drixel looked at her like she was crazy. "I don't drink on the job." Drosida grabbed his hand to beckon him.  
"Oh, come on," she charmed. "I got this cute guy to give us directions to a bar. I heard they make great Hylian twisters." Drixel sighed; he thought that this was very foolish- they could be making the final touches to the plan right now. He quickly decided against it; besides, it was better to go along with her than to go against her.

_Hyrule Castle: Zelda's room_

Zelda was pacing back and forth around her bedroom nervously. It was surprising that she hadn't worn grooves into the floor.  
_I must tell him,_ she thought. Zelda had been having terrible dreams for awhile now, about dark, ancient evils, filled with countless amounts of screaming. Just thinking about it made shivers run down her spine. It was all she could think about lately, and it was wearing her out.  
She had tried to tell her father about it, but every time she brought it up, he would just brush it off. He insisted that she was imagining things. His words looped in her mind, and she tried to figure out how she could approach him from a different perspective. Nothing she tried seemed to work.  
_"Zelda,"_her father would say. _"You can't cancel now; all of Hyrule has been waiting to celebrate your birthday! It's a chance for people to take a break from everyday life and relax."_  
_"Father, you sound like a spoiled child!"_ she cried, keeping the remark in mind.  
_"Besides, if you cancel now because of your silly fantasy, it will disappoint many, many people! You don't want to let down those who love you, do you?"_  
Thinking about it only made her angry. Zelda sighed. "How could he not listen to me? I am his only daughter and child; it's not like I'm crazy!" she thought out loud.  
_Or... am I?_ she continued in her mind, disturbed by the thought. She walked over to her vanity and sat down with a plop, looking at herself in the mirror. She looked tired and worn out. "You've got to get yourself together, girl," she told herself, trying to make herself feel better. This attempt was interrupted by a knock on the door.  
"Who is it?" she asked in her most authoritative tone.  
"It's your father; I came by because I have a gift for you!" the king answered in a booming, sing-song tone.  
"Give me just a moment!" Zelda called out. "Okay... pull yourself together. You can do this. Today, Nayru is shining upon you." After her little pep talk, she looked in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable. Then, she walked over to the door and opened it.  
"Good morning, Father," Zelda said with a smile.  
"Good morning, my darling daughter! Today, you are 23. Your mother and I couldn't be any happier!" King Harphen exclaimed, and then he pulled Zelda into a tight hug.  
The only thing Zelda could do was hug him back. She loved her father very much, but he was incredibly stubborn. After a minute, they pulled apart, but Harphen's hands stayed on Zelda's shoulders.  
"I remember when I first met your mother," he began.  
_Not this again_, she thought.  
"I met your mother when she was 23. At first glance I fell in love. Now you're 23, and I think I'm falling in love all over again. It's amazing how you look just like her."  
"Father... please, she is alive, you know. You speak of her as if she were dead."  
"I know, but still. I love talking about her," he smiled. The king loved his wife very much and he never missed out on an opportunity to brag about her. Zelda's eye caught the small, decorative box he was holding. She decided to change the subject before he started getting carried away.  
"Father? What's in the box?" she asked.  
"Oh, this? Why, I almost forgot- well, I came here to give you a gift."  
_I wonder..._Zelda's thought trailed.  
"Here. Open it." Harphen handed her the box and smiled in anticipation. When Zelda opened it, she found a simple necklace with a quote on the back. _May Nayru shine upon you._  
"Well... do you like it?" Harphen asked. Zelda eyed it; she wasn't crazy about the necklace, but she forced a smile anyway.  
"Thank you, Father... I will cherish this forever."  
_I need to tell him,_ Zelda quickly reminded herself. "Father, I need to talk to you about something."  
"Yes, Zelda?"  
Zelda took a deep breath and continued. "Well, Father, remember when I said I want to canc-"  
"Zelda, please. Not this again, not now."  
"Please, Father, please listen!" Zelda pleaded.  
"No, Zelda. We are going to continue with the celebration, and that is final!"  
Zelda was quiet. More often than not, she was able to persuade her father to do whatever she wanted. But when her father made up his mind, there was nothing anybody could do.  
"Okay, listen to me. If we continue, you will be putting this kingdom in danger." Zelda tried to stand firm, but she knew that her attempts were in vain.

"No more, Zelda, and that's final. I will see you later, at tonight's celebration. Please try to keep your doomsday worries to a minimum."

Zelda narrowed her eyes and turned away. Harphen sighed, but before he walked out of the door, he turned around. "I love you, Zelda," he said, hoping for a response.

Zelda turned her back, remaining silent. Harphen sighed. "I'll see you later, My Dear." Then, he gently closed the door.

"I love you too, Father," she answered softly, "but ignorance is not bliss."

Zelda returned to her vanity and continued to look at herself. A faint glowing golden light caught her eye, and when she looked down, a faintly glowing triangle had started to appear on the back of her right hand.

**Please review, as it helps with the writing process.**


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